Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Great Wave

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students investigate tsunamis and how they are caused.  In this natural disaster lesson, students discuss earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides and other causes of tsunamis.  Students conduct an experiment in which they drop...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mesozoic Murals

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners create a mural of one of the Mesozoic Periods. In this geologic timeline lesson, students will research the plants and animals that lived in the Mesozoic Era in order to create a mural to scale that represents one of the three...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Biomes: Coastlines and Seas

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students study the different types of coastlines and their territories. In this marine coasts lesson students identify life forms that are in the coastal regions. 
Lesson Plan
Science Matters

Up and Down Fault Blocks

For Teachers 6th Standards
The Sierra Mountains in Nevada and the Tetons in Wyoming originally formed as fault block mountains. In order to visualize these fault blocks, pupils use construction paper to create layers of earth. They cut the paper models and form...
Lesson Plan
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California Academy of Science

What Kind of Geologist Am I?

For Teachers 2nd - 5th Standards
Transform your class into young geologists as they learn about six different branches of geology. Using the included geology career descriptions and picture cards, learners work in small groups deciding which tools and locations fit...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Building a Better Sentence

For Teachers 1st
Sentence construction is both a science and an art. This bare bones lesson plan ties an analysis of earth's geology to sentence formation. Although referenced as a major part of the activity, there are no links to the technology or...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Eureka! You've Struck

For Teachers 4th
While incomplete, this lesson could provide ideas for a lesson on the California gold rush. Learners look at a chart to analyze population growth in San Francisco after the discovery of gold, analyze political changes that occurred, and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The 50 States and its Holidays

For Teachers Pre-K - Higher Ed
Though the format of this ELL lesson is confusing (the standards listed are for plate tectonics, yet the objectives are for American geography and holidays), a teacher could glean some ideas from the main idea. Here, pupils complete a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Plate Tectonics & Land Forms

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders discuss the different interactions of plates and the ways mountains are created.  In this plate tectonics lesson plan students complete an activity in groups.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Volume of Cones

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students identify the volume of cones and pyramids. In this geometry lesson, students derive the formula for cones and pyramids. They calculate the volume of cones and other three dimensional shapes.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Seashore Explorers

For Teachers 1st - 5th
There are three separate lessons within this resource that can be used together, or that can each stand alone. In the first, five simple activities allow junior scientists to examine the amazing properties of water. In the second, they...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Puzzle it Out

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Learners study the Earth's climatic system and construct a puzzle that names all of the pieces of the  components involved.  In this Climate lesson, students draw a picture on a puzzle piece depicting a specific component....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Friend, Foe, or . . .

For Teachers 5th - 6th
As a result of this lesson, upper elementary ocean explorers will be able to describe several interrelationships: symbiosis, mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism. They learn that the biological richness is increased near seamounts and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Top to Bottom

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Marine science classes read about the 2005 North Atlantic Stepping Stones Expedition and review climate change. They use maps to locate the seamount chains. In collaborative groups, they research how climate change may be altering the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Plate Tectonics

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners identify that most of mountain ranges found on all major land masses and in the oceans are external reflections of tectonic movements within the earth. They identify that earthquakes and related phenomena are caused by the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Seismic Calendar

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars discover how often earthquakes happen in a region of their choice. In this science lesson, students use online resouces to help them do their investigations. Young scholars make their own map of their region and show how...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Living With the Heat: The Ring of Fire

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students investigate the planet Earth's infamous ring of fire and the life that thrives from it.  In this ocean environment lesson plan, students investigate hydrothermal vents and how organisms thrive off their heat.  Students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

In the Rain Shadow

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students charts the rainfall averages on either side of a mountain range. In this water cycle lesson plan, students discover that mountain ranges affect weather patterns. Students pretend they are air traffic controllers and...
Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Volcanic Violence

For Teachers 4th - Higher Ed
Students complete activities to study volcanic activities. In this volcanic activities lesson, students read an article about violent volcanoes. Students complete discuss questions and volcano projects for the lesson. students also take...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Life on a Fiery Planet

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students study the effects on the evolution of human culture from volcanic events worldwide.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Plate Tectonic Cycle

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students explore the Earth's movements by completing worksheets. In this plate tectonics activity, students define such natural disasters as volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis and mudslides and discuss their connections to plate tectonics....
Lesson Planet Article
Curated OER

Geological Pyrotechnics

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students will be amazed at the wonders of volcanoes and learn about their characteristics as they build these models.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

When Earth Fails: How Earth?s Physical Changes Cause Natural Disasters

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students examine natural disasters and some safety measures that should be followed.  In this natural disaster activity students write a narrative, and research safety procedures.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Line Graph of the Ocean Floor

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Learners develop a spreadsheet and import the information into a line graph. In this spreadsheet and line graph instructional activity, students develop a spreadsheet of ocean depths. They import the information into a word processed...